Device for metallizing textile fabrics and the like by means of disintegration of cathodes



Sept. 1, 1925. 1,551,850

G E. SCHMIDMER ET AL" DEVICE FOR HETALLIZING TEXTILE FABRICS AND THE LIKE BY MEANS OF DISINTEGRATION OF GATHDDES Filed A112. 29, 1924 Inventors Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES v 1,551,350 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORG- E. SCHMIDMER, OF NUREMBERG, AND GUSTAV GLEISSNER, .OF MUNICH,

. GERMANY.

DEVICE FOR METALLIZING TEXTILE FABRICS AND THE LIKE BY MEANS OF DISIN- TEGRATION OF CATHODES.

Application filed August 29, 1924. Serial .No. 735,037.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORG E. SCHMID- MER and GUSTAV GLEISSNER, citizens of the German Republic, residing at Nuremberg and Munich, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Metallizing Textile Fabrics and the like by Means of Disintegration of Cathodes (for which patent application .has been filed in Germany August 30th, 1923), of which the following is a specification.

- In the art of metallizing textile fabrics and similar materials by means of cathodic disintegration great difiiculty is experienced in placing the material to .be metallized into the usual receptacle.

The object of our invention is to remedy this defect by means adapted to facilitate the-handling of the apparatus and with this objectin view we shape the material carry.- ing member to form a. separate body adapted to be inserted into the. said receptacle and which in the following description shall be named the insert. The electrodes are firmly attached to the insert, while the parts carrying the textile fabric or the like to be metallized are revolubly mounted therein.

The employment of an insert of the kind afiords the possibility of arranging the parts in a manner that upon shifting the insert into the receptacle, the required electric connections will be automatically brought.

about and at the same time the material carrying member ,or parts will be coupled with the driving member. It is, therefore, only necessary to provide electric terminals passing through the walls of the said receptacle and corresponding to co-operating terminals provided in the insert at a suit-- able location, and to further provide adriving member adapted to impart motion to the insert and mounted to pass airtight through the wall of the receptacle. If these requirements are complied with, only the insert is to be introduced and the receptacle to be closed in order to have the apparatus in operative condition.

In order that our invention may be clearl understood a more detailed description wi 1 now be given and reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which':-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one type of apparatus constructed according'to this invention, the receptacle being partly broken out and the insert being partly introduced.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of a modified type in which the driving member is located eccentrically with respect to the axis of the rotary insert shaped to form a drum or cylinder for the reception of the material to be treated.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the insert shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the insert modified by the provision of rolls therein for the material to be wound thereon.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the insert illustrated in Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 is an end view thereof viewing the end plate supporting the driving member and the electrode connections.

Referring to Figure 1 the receptacle 1 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder or drum supported by suitable bottom bearings 2. places for the reception of the electrode ,connections or terminals 3 and 4 and the driving member 5 and the said parts 3, 4 and 5 are mounted in the several bores so as to be air-tight enclosed therein. 6 designates a short tube in the top of the drum 1 for the attachment of a conduit in connection with a vacuum-pump. Obviously the insert has two end plates 7 of which only one is shown in Fig. 1. The two end plates 7 are rigidly connected with each other and the electrodes 8 extend there between. On the inner face of the drum 1 two longitudinal ribs 9 are providedonly one being shown-and the end plates 7 of the insert are recessed at the bottom conformingly so that when the insert is to be The one end wall is bored at several introduced into the drum, the ribs 9 will engage in the recesses of the end plates 7 and the insert will always have the same position with relation to the drum 1 when housed in the latter.

A shaft 10 is duly supported in central holes of the two end plates 7 and a hollow cylinder or drum 11 is rigidly connected or keyed to the shaft 10 so as to rotate therewith. Thedrum 11 receives the material to bertu'eated and is adapted to engage and be 'coupled with the driver 5, when the insertis fully housed within the drum 1, so'as to rotate therewith. On the left hand end plate of the insert contacting in Figs. 2 and 3. are the same as in Fig. 1

the samev reference characters are used in the figures.

Figs. 2 and 8 clearly show the electrode connections or contacts 12 on the left-hand end plate 7 of the insert. Keyed to the shaft is a toothed wheel 13 engaging with. a gearl4 properly journalled to a pin in the plate 7 and in turn meshing with a toothed wheel 15 having two driving pins 16 adapted to engage a driver 17 provided 'at the inner end of the drivingshaft 18 supported in an air-tight bearing of the end wall or plate of the drum 1. The described gearing thus transmits motion from the shaft 18 to the drum 11 when the insert is sufiiciently pushed in so that the parts 16, 17 and 3, 4, 12, respectively, engage each other.

The electrodes 8 are electrically connected with each other in alternation and the two sets of electrodes thus obtained are connected ,to the two contacts 12, that is to say, the one set to the one and the other set to the other one of the two contacts 12. The corresponding terminals 3 and 1 are in connection with a high tension line.

In operation the drum 1 is evacuated by means of the pump hereinbefore mentioned and then the drum 11 is caused torevolve through the agency of the shaft 18 driven from any suitable source of power. At thematerial under treatment.

- same time current is switched on to pass through the terminals 3 and 4. The metallic electrodes are thereby caused to disintegrate more or less and to yield minute particles of metal in the form of dust, as is generally known in the art, and the metallic dust thus produced deposits on the The latter is wound or stretched over the drum 11.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 the drum 11 carrying the material to be treated is not fully closed at its periphery and winding rolls 19, 20 are provided within the drum for the material to be stretched over the peripheral surface of the drum 11. 21 and 22 denote two guiding rolls, 23 is a pattern cylinder or sheet arranged to enclose the drum 11, and 24 is a guiding rod to support the portion of the pattern cylinder or sheet which is not in contact with or supported by the periphery of the drum 11.

Keyed to the outer ends or pins of the winding rolls 19 and 20 are toothed wheels 25 and 26, respectively, and on a-pin projecting from the end plate of the drum 11 a gear 15 is mounted. The latter is provided with two coupling pins 16, as will be clearly seen in Fig. 6, adapted to engage a driver projecting into the receptacle or drum 1, in a similar manner as the driver 17 shown in Fig. 2. 7

On the in carrying the gear 15' an arm 27 is frictionally mounted and the arm 27 carries a toothed wheel 28 meshing with the gear 15. When the gear 15 is rotated there will be a tendency for the arm 27 to also rotate whereby the toothed wheel is caused to engage, according to the rotary direction of the gear 15, either the wheel 25 or thewheel 26 .and consequently the revolutions of the gear 15 are transmitted to either the winding roll 19 or the winding roll 20. Thus, it will be seen, a means is provided for unwinding the material to be treated from the one roll and winding it at the same time on to the other roll or vice versa. I

As the pattern cylinder or sheet 23 is stretched to be in intimate contact with the drum 11', the same partakes in the rotary motion of the latter. In this way any desired patterns may be produced on the material to be treated since the fine metallic particles cannot deposit thereon except at those places which are notcovered by the sheet, that is to say, the pattern thereof, whereas all those places which are covered by the body of the sheet remain free from metallic dust.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3 the length of the fabric to be treated is limited to the periphery of the drum 11 whilst the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 4; to 6 enables a piece of fabric of greater length to be metallized if desired. By suitably guiding the fabric it will be possible to have all of the disintegrated metal deposit on the fabric.

It is apparent that in carrying out our invention some changes from the constructions herein shown and described may be made. We have not attemped to explain all of the minute details of the construction of the device, for it will be understood by those to whom this specification is addressed that the parts will necessarily be of the proper size and relationship and will be properly mounted and supported according to the tenets of machine construction. Nor does it seem necessary to burden this specification with an exposition of the advantages which the invention possesses for they will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates.

In particular we wish it to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but includes within its purview such changes as may be made within the scopeof the appended claims.

What we claim is 1. Device for metallizing a flexible material particularly of textile nature, comprising a receptacle or chamber adapted to be evacuated, electric terminals inside of said vacuum chamber, an insert removably placed into said vacuum chamber, a carrier for the flexible material to be metallized rotatably mounted within said-insert, electrodes firmly connected with said insert, electrical contacts. electrically connected with the said electrodes and adapted to become electrically connected with said terminals on shifting the insert into the vacuum chamber, means for driving the said carrier and means for actuatin the said driving means substantially as an for the purpose set forth.

2. Device for metallizing a flexible material particularly of textile nature, comprising a receptacle or chamber adapted to be evacuated, electric terminals inside of said vacuum chamber, an insert removably placed into said vacuum chamber, a carrier for the flexible material to be metallized rotatably mounted within said insert, electrodes firmly connected with said insert, electrical contacts electrically connected with the said electrodes and adapted to become electrically connected with said terminals on shifting the insert into the vacuum chamber, two rollers rotatably mounted in said carrier for oppo site ends of the material to be wound thereon, a guide member provided in said carrier and drivlng-means for actuating the rollers substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Device for metallizing a flexible ma ing the material to be treated, rotarily mounted within said insert, electrical con-.

tacts electrically connected -with the said electrodes and adapted to be electrically connected with the said terminals, two winding rollers rotatably mounted in said'drum, guiding rollersand means for driving the said winding rollers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. Device for metallizin a flexible material particularly of textlle nature, comprising -a receptacle orchamber adapted to be evacuated, electric terminals inside of said vacuum chamber, an insert removably placed into said vacuum chamber, a drum for carrying the material to be treated, said drum having an opening along a portionof its periphery and being rotarily mounted within said insert, electrical contacts electrically connected with the said electrodes and adapted to be electrically connected with the said terminals, two windin rollers rotatably mounted in said drum, gui ing rollers, a pattern sheet or stencil to cover the material under treatment, means in the said opening for supporting the pattern sheet, and means for driving the said winding rollers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, we afiix our signatures.

GEORG E.- SCHMIDMER. DmGUSTAV GLEISSNER. 

